General News

LAVO to establish hydrogen fuel cell facility in Queensland

Australian energy technology company LAVO Hydrogen Technology Limited will establish the $15 million facility, backed by the Palaszczuk Government’s Invested in Queensland program, part of the $3.34 billion Queensland Jobs Fund.

“This is one of the first projects to receive support through our Invested in Queensland program, and the jobs to come from this are significant,” Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment Cameron Dick said. “Up to 200 construction jobs will be created over the next 12 months, and once fuel cell production ramps up there will be almost 170 operational jobs supported here by 2026. “The fuel cells will be used in the world’s first hydrogen energy storage system for homes and businesses, developed in Australia by LAVO and the University of New South Wales. “LAVO’s hydrogen technology has generated considerable customer interest here in Australia and overseas, and this new facility will allow the company to export Queenslandmade products to the world.” The LAVO HESS (Hydrogen Energy Storage System) is an integrated hybrid hydrogen battery that can be combined with rooftop solar to store 40kWh of electricity – enough energy to power a typical household for two days. Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen Mick de Brenni said the announcement is a major step towards the development of an economically sustainable and competitive hydrogen industry in Queensland. CEO and Executive Director of LAVO Alan Yu said the company is excited to be manufacturing the fuel cells here in Australia under a joint venture agreement with Netherlands-based Nedstack, developer of the fuel cells. “We will be working to maximise the use of local suppliers in the manufacturing process and will be supplying both domestic and international markets across the residential, off-grid, telecommunications and commercial sectors,” Mr Yu said.

From left to right: Maha Sinnathamby, The Honourable Mick de Brenni, The Honourable Cameron Dick, Mrs Charis Mullen MP, Joseph Phelan and Bob Sharpless.

$1b technology fund for low emissions

The Federal Government will establish a new $1 billion technology fund to turbocharge investment in Australian companies to develop new low emissions technology.

The Low Emissions Technology Commercialisation Fund (the Fund) will combine $500 million of new capital for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) with $500 million from private sector investors. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Fund would back Australian early-stage companies to develop new technology. Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said the Fund demonstrates the Government’s commitment to achieve net zero emissions through investments in technology. “The Fund will support Australian innovators to develop their intellectual property and grow their businesses in Australia,” Minister Taylor said. “It will address a gap in the Australian market, where currently small, complex, technologyfocused start-ups can be considered to be too risky to finance. “Together with other new initiatives, like the increased investment in establishing seven Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs around Australia, today’s announcement brings our commitment to more than $21 billion of public investment in low emissions technologies by 2030. “Our investment will leverage 3-5x that amount in co-investment from the private sector and other levels of government, or between $84 billion and $126 billion in total investment by 2030.”

New pultrusion technology

Engineering is the science of making things easier, accessible, innovative, and cost-effective.

This concept is key to the partnership between the University of Southern Queensland, Wagners Composite Fibre Technologies (CFT) and Allnex Composites, which started in 2019 through a $10 million Cooperative Research Centres program, to produce cutting-edge innovation in composite manufacturing. Their newest innovation has reimagined a fundamental production process from concept design and now mass production. Historically Wagners bonded two square profiles to produce rectangular sections for use as joists in structures. However, sanding and bonding was an expensive and time consuming process.

After years of research and development Wagners CFT is now able to produce high-performing large, hollow rectangular composite profiles through a novel pull-winding process at its composite manufacturing facility in Toowoomba. These composite profiles are an alternative to steel, aluminium and timber due to their non-corrosive, resilient, lightweight, high strength and neutral electromagnetic nature. Wagners New Generation Building Materials Executive General Manager Michael Kemp said through Research and Development, the partnership with University of Southern Queensland and Allnex had produced a cost-effective and efficient solution. “This is an innovation that took our pultrusion technology to the next level, ensuring we are at the forefront of global composite manufacturing,” he said. “The new process not only saves time, money and environmental waste but also, by optimising the joist and shape, improves flexural performance by approximately 35 percent.